VALLEJO / Man linked to local rapper's death slain / But police not sure killing is part of feud in Mac Dre shooting

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, May 26, 2005

A rapper sought for questioning in the fatal shooting last year of Vallejo rapper Andre Hicks -- better known as Mac Dre -- in Missouri was killed in Las Vegas, authorities said Wednesday.

Although investigators said they can't say whether the slayings indicate a mounting feud between Bay Area rappers and their counterparts in Kansas City, Mo., police in that city and in Las Vegas said they are girding for the possibility of more violence.

A security guard found rapper Anthony Watkins, 24, a Kansas City rapper known as "Fat Tone," shot dead at an upscale housing construction site in the Southern Highlands area of Las Vegas at 4 a.m. Monday, said Sgt. Chris Jones. Police also found the body of Jermaine Akins, 22.

The guard had noticed a car with its headlights on, parked "in an area where no one should be," said Las Vegas homicide Lt. Tom Monahan. One body was found inside the vehicle, the other was nearby, but police declined to say Wednesday who was inside the vehicle.

Investigators had few leads in the killings, but hoped to find three people they believe have information that might help: Andre Dow, 34, a rap promoter known as "Mac Minister"; Tanisha Aaron, 27; and Jason Mathis, 24.

Watkins had been fired upon but not hit as he rode away from a Kansas City radio station about a year before Hicks was killed on Nov. 1 while visiting the city to perform.

Many in the rap community believed at least some of Watkins' assailants had been from the Bay Area, fueling speculation that Watkins, in turn, may have been involved in Hicks' death, according to www.ballerstatus.net, a Web site chronicling the hip hop world.

Although Hicks' killing remains unsolved and police said Watkins was not a suspect, they considered him a "person of interest" at one point, authorities said.

Hicks, who was 34 when he died, was widely known in underground rap circles for his "hardcore" rap, and his death was as violent as the lyrics to some of his most popular songs.

Hicks was riding in a white van headed north on Highway 71 through Kansas City when someone in a passing vehicle opened fire. The van crashed. Hicks was killed by a gunshot wound.

Kansas City detectives tried to question his entourage, but they refused to cooperate, said Officer Darin Snapp, police spokesman, and there have been no arrests made or charges filed in the case.

"Until someone wants to talk to our detectives, we're kind of at a standstill," Snapp said.

"With the two homicides, maybe someone will now come forward and hopefully end this violence," he added.

Watkins' name was among those that came up during the investigation, said Kansas City homicide Capt. Vince Cannon.

Police say Hicks was once part of Vallejo's north side Romper Room Gang, which was suspected of committing a series of bank robberies and pizza parlor stickups in the early 1990s. Hicks served five years in prison for conspiring to rob a bank in Fresno, and released a single he recorded on a jailhouse phone.

Hicks, who later moved to Sacramento, released more than 20 albums in a career marked by underground popularity.

His death preceded a surge in record sales and radio airplay.

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